Topic: Comics Thread

@nessisonett BKV isn't one to outstay his welcome on these longer projects so I think you're probably right. The quality really was so insanely high throughout the entire first "volume" that a bit of a blip out of the gate on this second run is hardly cause for panic.

Any James Harren fans in here? Just finished Ultra Mega, His take on Ultra man. Finished it in one sitting whilst waiting for the washing machine to end it's cycle.

I need more but I guess I have to wait for the next issue or hold out for volume 2 collection.

Gutted to hear about Tim Sale passing away. I absolutely love his art, especially his Batman and Superman. You can see his influence throughout modern comics no matter where you look.

a few things Im reading this year

Regression
Gideon Falls
Snotgirl
old 1980s Alpha Flight
Justice League post Rebirth

@nessisonett Damn. 66 is no age at all really. I've always thought "The Long Halloween" was overrated as a story but that the art was on another scale entirely. Sad news.

It's become a bit of a habit of mine to read a couple comic book chapters on my Fire Tablet at night in bed before going to sleep (and a couple in the morning on weekends), which is a good way to get some reading in without interfering with my gaming/TV time.

So far it's just been the manga InuYasha which I've been reading off and on for the past 2 years (I'd taken months off at a time until I'd gotten into this groove), but I'm finally nearing the end. I'll be reading the first volume of the sequel YashaHime once I'm finished, but after that I'm thinking about diving into some western comics which is an area I haven't really explored before. Luckily, as I understand it there are a bunch of independent stories like All Star Superman, The Killing Joke, Superman Smashes the Klan, & the Dark Knight Returns that make good entry points.

Since it was "free" as part of "Prime Reading", I read the first volume of the 2011-2015 Supergirl run.

First couple of chapters were the best with the Superman fight (they also had brighter colors than the rest of the book, which I preferred), I wasn't huge on the knockoff Luther they had her face off against next, but I liked where they were going in the last few chapters when she went to investigate the truth about Krypton.

Finished up All Star Superman this morning. As someone who's much more accustomed to reading manga, this was an interesting learning experience.

I think the biggest thing that stood out to me (with my largest familiarity to western comic book properties being the films & some games) was how unapologetically weird it could be. Not that manga can't be weird, but each series is usually set in it's own standalone universe & you're introduced to all of it's specific rules & quirks as it goes on. Here (and in spite of itself being standalone & disconnected from greater comic continuity) rise ups of subterranean lizard people & time travelling Biblical figures are treated so matter of factly like it's just another Tuesday at the office, lol.

That's not to say I didn't like it though, far from it in fact. The core narrative was surprisingly heartfelt & uplifting, and the art, especially some of the full page pieces could be fantastic.

After downloading it around Halloween, I've finally finished reading Vampirella: the Essential Warren Years Volume 1.

First time reading a comic this old before (it's a collection of stories from the late 60's into the 70's), and it was an interesting curio, though I don't think I'll be eager to return to the character any time soon (at least from this era). Man, probably just a byproduct of it's time due to how comics were distributed/consumed, but it felt like they had to go to full lengths to explain her backstory every single chapter, as well as that of the surrounding cast (this got better as it went on though).

Really seems like they were learning what they wanted it to be as they went along. The first two chapters seemed a lot more campy than the rest (& that's saying something when the heroine is wearing what amounts to a one piece swimsuit at all times, and this is treated with a straight face at all times, lol), but it then quickly takes a much more dramatic turn as she quickly finds herself at odds with a cult that's trying to resurrect a collection of ancient demons (drama that involves a ballooning cast as they wrap all the Dracula lore including the Van Helsing family into it), but then eventually it seems like they realize it's all a bit much as they pare back the cast & silently retire the grander narrative as the last several stories just revolve around them getting involved in one random supernatural case after another as they travel the world (honestly this is where I'd say the series starts to really hit it's stride).